Hong Kong court dismisses bid by Jimmy Lai to overturn conviction
Hong Kong's top court on Monday unanimously dismissed the bid to overturn the convictions of media tycoon Jimmy Lai and six other pro-democracy campaigners for an unauthorized assembly in 2019. - REUTERS
Transcript
00:00Hong Kong's top court on Monday unanimously dismissed the bid to overturn the convictions
00:06of media tycoon Jimmy Lai and six other pro-democracy campaigners for an unauthorized assembly in
00:122019.
00:13Seventy-six-year-old Lai, the founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily and others,
00:19including Martin Li, had been found guilty of organizing and participating in an unauthorized
00:25assembly in August 2019.
00:28Following months-long pro-democracy protests in the China-ruled city, a lower court had
00:33overturned their conviction for organizing the unauthorized assembly, but their conviction
00:38for taking part in an unauthorized procession was upheld.
00:42The appeal focused on whether the conviction was proportionate to fundamental human rights
00:47protections, a principle that came from two non-binding decisions of Britain's Supreme
00:52Court.
00:53However, Chief Justice Andrew Cheung said that the legal frameworks in Hong Kong and
00:58the UK differ significantly and should not be treated the same.
01:03Beijing imposed national security law in 2020 after months of pro-democracy protests in
01:082019, and the Hong Kong Legislative Council passed a new national security law, also known
01:15as Article 23, in March this year.
01:18Lai has been held in solitary confinement for more than three years since December 2020.
01:24He is now facing a separate national security trial and serving a sentence of five years
01:28and nine months, after being convicted of violating a lease contract for his now-shuttered
01:34newspaper's headquarters.
01:36According to the Security Bureau, over 300 people were arrested over acts or activities
01:41that endanger national security. Among them, 176 persons and five companies were charged.